| 1091 county. Campbell swore, as he adjusted his pistols in his holsters, "The Eagles and Turkey Buzzards shall eat my flesh if I do not fix Joe. Smith and his army so that their skins will not hold shucks, before two days are passed."
They went to the ferry and undertook to cross the Missouri river, after dusk, and the angel of God saw fit to sink the boat, about the middle of the river, and seven out of twelve that attempted to cross, were drowned. Thus suddenly, and justly went they to their own place by water. Campbell was among the missing. He floated down the river some four or five miles, and lodged upon a pile of drift wood, where the Eagles, Buzzards, Ravans [Ravens], Crows and wild animals ate his flesh from his bones, to fullfil [fulfill] his own words, and left him a horrible looking skeleton of God's vengeance: which was discovered, about three weeks after by one Mr. Purtle.
Owens saved his life only, after floating four miles down the stream, where he lodged upon an island, "swam off naked about day light, borrowed a mantle to hide his shame, and slipped home rather shy of the vengeance of God."
We were threatened that we should not pass through Richmond, and it was reported that an army lay in wait there to intercept us.
Thursday 19th; we passed through the town as soon as it was light and before the inhabitants were arisen from their slumbers, meeting with no opposition, but we had not proceeded many miles before one wagon broke down, and by the time that was repaired wheels run off from others and such like incidents continued through the day to impede our progress. When we started in the morning we intended to arrive in Clay county that day, but in vain, at a seasonable hour we encamped on an elevated piece of ground between two branches of Fishing River, having travelled [traveled] about fifteen miles. Fishing River, at this point, was composed of seven small streams, and those betwixt which we encamped were two of them.
As we halted and were making preparations for the night, five men armed with guns rode into our camp and told us we should see hell before morning, and their accompanying oaths partook of all the malice of demons. They told us that sixty men were coming from Richmond, Ray county; and seventy more from Clay county, sworn to our utter destruction. The weather was pleasant at this time.
During this day the Jackson county mob, to the number of about two hundred, made arrangements to cross the Missouri river, about the mouth of Fishing River, at William's ferry, into Clay county, and be ready to meet the Richmond mob near Fishing River Ford, for our utter destruction; but after the first scow load of about forty had been set over the river, the scow in returning was met by a squall, and had great difficulty in reaching the Jackson side by dare,.
Soon after the five men left the camp swearing vengeance, we discovered a small black cloud rising in the West, and in twenty minutes, or thereabouts, it began to rain and hail, and this was the squall that trouble the Jackson boat.
The storm was tremendous; wind and rain, hail and thunder met them in great wrath, and soon softened their direful courage, and frustrated all their designs to "kill Joe Smith and his army." Instead of continuing a cannonading, which they commenced the sun about one hour high, they crawled under wagons, into hollow trees, filled one old shanty, &c. till the storm was over, when their ammunition was soaked, and the forty in Clay county were extremely anxious in the morning, to return to Jackson, having experienced the pitiless peltings of the storm all night, and as soon as arrangements could be made, this "forlorn hope" took the "back track" for Independence, to join the main body of the mob, fully satisfied, as were those survivors of the company who were drowned, that when Jehovah fights, they would rather be absent. The gratification is too terrible.
Very little hail fell in our camp, but from half to a mile around, the stones or lumps of ice cut down the crops of corn and vegetation generally, even cutting limbs from trees, themselves were twisted into withs by the wind. The lightning flashed incessantly, which caused it to be so light in our camp through the night, that we could discern the most minute object; and the roaring of the thunder was tremendous. The earth trembled and quaked; the rain fell in torrents, and , united, it seemed as if the mandate of vengeance had gone forth from the God of battles to protect his servants from the destruction of their enemies, for the hail fell on them, and not on us, and we suffered no harm except the blowing down of some of our tents and getting some wet, while our enemies had holes made in their hats and otherwise received damage, even the breaking of their rifle stocks, and the fleeing of their horses through fear and pain.
Many of my little band sheltered in an old meeting house through this night, and in the morning the water in Big Fishing River, was about forty feet deep, where, the previous evening it was no more than to our ancles [ankles], and our enemies swore that the water rose thirty
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